Coiled or continuous reel tubing has been used in the oil industry for the last 20-30 years. The fact that a continuous single tube is used provides several advantages when entering a live oil or gas well which could have anything up to 7,000 psi well head pressure. This means the well does not have to be killed, (i.e. a heavy fluid does not have to be pumped down the production tubing to control the oil or gas producing zone by the effect of its greater hydrostatic pressure). Continuous tubing has the advantage of also being able to pass through the tubing through which the oil and/or gas is being produced, not disturbing the tubing in place.
Since its introduction, the uses and applications for coiled tubing have grown immensely, and now, rather than just being used to circulate various fluids in a well bore, it is not uncommon for coiled tubing to be used for conveying various hydraulically powered tools and more recently electrically powered tools on its end into the well. This has resulted in conventional electrical wire-line logging cables or small hydraulic conduits being inserted into the inside of the reel of tubing so that these more sophisticated tools can be used and services can be performed.
A disadvantage which has resulted from this practice is the capstan effect of the smaller diameter wire-line or hydraulic tube tending to be pulled very tightly to the inner surface of the continuous reel of tubing. When considering the effect this has on the geometry, it will be appreciated that the wire-line or small hydraulic conductor will have a slightly smaller pitch circle diameter to that of the larger reeled tubing. The consequence of this is that for each complete 360 degrees of a turn the wire-line or hydraulic tube will be slightly shorter in length than the larger reeled tubing, so if this is added up over its total length of 12,000 ft (3657 m) or usually longer the difference in lengths could be as much as 200 ft (61 in).
This problem has been recognized due to the operational problems encountered. Either one end of the wire-line or hydraulic tube has been pulled out of its connection, or else the reeled tubing itself develops a low frequency wave form caused by the tension in the conduit inside the reeled tubing, which prevents the reeled tubing from being lowered any deeper into the well without the risk of damaging it.
Also the effect of increasing the weight of the conduit and for conduits having a certain length has resulted in the conduit being prone to stretching or creep when installed in the well in particular when it is considered that the conduit is intended to remain in position for a relatively long period of time for production of the well. The type of conduit for which stretching is a problem depends upon the weight per unit length of the conduit, the material of the conduit and the expected working life of the conduit. Stretching and slippage of the conduit is frequently a serious problem.